Pakistan humiliated Ireland in the second T20I at Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin on Sunday by seven wickets. The Men in Green reached the mark in the 17th over thanks to Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, and Azam Khan.
Pakistan defeat Ireland by seven wickets in second T20I
Pakistan tied the three-match series with the win. Pakistan lost Saim Ayub (6) and skipper Babar Azam (0) early in the chase. However, Rizwan and Fakhar formed a massive collaboration.
Their 140-run partnership is Pakistan’s greatest for the 3rd wicket in T20Is, breaking Rizwan and Haider Ali’s 105. Rizwan scored 75 off 46 balls with four sixes and six fours, while Fakhar scored 78 off 40 with six fours and six sixes. Azam, a wicketkeeper-batter, scored 30 off 10 with fours and four maximums against Ireland bowling. Pakistan put Ireland in to bat first and their highest-ever Clontarf Cricket Club score was 193/7.
The Pakistani team started well with Shaheen Afridi taking two wickets. He fired Paul Stirling (16) and Andy Balbirnie (11). Ireland rallied with 62 runs from Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker. Tector was the home team’s greatest batter, scoring 51 off 34 balls, while Tucker made 32 off 28.
Curtis Campher added a 13-ball 22 and Gareth Delany put in a 10-ball 28 cameo to help Ireland reach its greatest Clontarf Cricket Club score. In his series debut, Mohammad Amir scored 1/44 while Shaheen took three wickets but surrendered 49 runs. Abbas Afridi grabbed two wickets for 33 runs and Naseem Shah one for 36. April 14 will be the series finale at the same site.
Playing XIs
- Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abbas Afridi,
- Mohammad Amir Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Andrew Bilbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Ben White, Craig Young